'Cage,' Poyrazköy cases merged by Istanbul court

Istanbul's 12th Court for Serious Crimes merged Friday the cases dealing with the 'Cage' plan and the munitions found buried in the city's Poyrazköy district.

Istanbul’s 12th Court for Serious Crimes merged Friday the cases dealing with the “Cage” plan and the munitions found buried in the city’s Poyrazköy district, saying the two cases are “related in terms of law.”

Since the Cage suspects on trial without arrest will not face the charges brought in the Poyrazköy case, the merging will affect three top suspects in the alleged plot, Col. Mücahit Erakyol, Col. Levent Gülmen and Lt. Col. Halil Özsaraç.

The 12th Court for Serious Crimes is located at the courthouse in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district.

The Cage allegations emerged in the wake of the Poyrazköy excavations in April 2009, which unearthed a large cache of ammunition.

Thirty-three suspects from the Turkish Navy are accused of planning actions to terrorize the country’s non-Muslim population in order to provoke Western powers to pressure the ruling government. The actions featured in the alleged plan include making threats via mail, phone calls and graffiti as well as setting off bombs and assassinating supporters of minority and non-Muslim rights groups.